A New Christmas Tradition
by Cazza799
Summary: This is a fluffy Christmas piece with Lenny and Mads.  It was inspired by what I thought was a very sweet moment between them in the Christmas episode.  They have no character tags so I couldn't label it.


**A/N: So there have been a couple of sweet moments between Lenny and Mads recently and I fully expected others to have picked up on it. Imagine my horror when I could find nothing written for these two characters together anywhere. So I'm starting my own fandom with this piece of Christmas fluff and I warn you it is sickeningly fluffy. Sorry it's a bit late. I don't know what to call the pairing; both Menny and Lads sound a little odd so I'll leave that for now and any suggestions are welcome. This is pretty much just friendship for now but there could be more there if you really squint. I don't know if anybody will have any interest in reading this but it made me happy to write it and hopefully I'll write for them again in the future. Any reviews would be so welcome. I'm interested to know if I'm alone in spotting the potential in this pairing. Also a quick apology to anybody who had me on alert and is waiting for an update on my existing work because I'm really struggling with that so it could be a while longer. I'm pretty sure Casualty doesn't even show in many places outside of the UK so this piece will be a total mystery to many of you. Now to the story.**

Lenny couldn't quite believe that this was actually happening. How had he actually been talked into participating in carolling of all things. This had started off as a really lousy Christmas. His sister had gone home so he wouldn't be spending it with her. He had failed her in every way possible and she was probably going to die as a result. Even Yuki had left him and it felt really strange coming into work every day without his best friend there. True, he knew that the quiet doctor had never really belonged in the E.D. but that didn't stop the inherently selfish part of him wishing he was still here. There wasn't really anybody else who he had let into his life to that extent for a long time and now he felt like he really had nobody left to talk to.

However as he stood there joining in with the desperate group of 'carollers' that Nurse Durrani had managed to gather together and looked across at her smiling face he realised exactly how this had happened. It was all her. She had been impossible to say no to. Her innocent excitement and insistence that Christmas should come to the staff of the E.D. too had even managed to reel him in, Lenny Lyons, the ultimate cynic, and he was surprised to find that he was actually enjoying himself. As he glanced across at her once more and realised that she had finally managed to conjure up the Christmas spirit she had so frantically been trying to encourage, he was genuinely glad that he had given in. There was something about the young nurse that intrigued him. She really seemed to have no agenda and although it was comical he had been more that a little touched when he had been told about her viewings of Trainspotting in her studied attempt to understand his accent. He also admired her greatly for coming here alone to a foreign place. After all, although he hadn't travelled nearly as far, he did find himself in a similar situation, far away from family and friends. Possibly more than anyone he understood what it was like for her. It was this realisation that took him over to speak to her when the singing was over. Her face lit up as he approached.

"Dr Lyons, you have finally found your Christmas spirit yes?"

He smiled back, "Call me Lenny, we aren't working now, and yes I think I have. I didn't even realise it was possible, it's been a pretty crappy year after all, so I wanted to say thanks." He was surprised to realise that he was trying to flatten his accent a little when talking to her. He had always sworn he would never do that. He was a proud Scot and if people couldn't understand him then that was just tough because they clearly weren't trying hard enough. He realised though that it was different with the young nurse, she had gone to a ridiculous amount of effort to try and understand, it was only fair that he returned the favour and tried to make things a little easier.

"In that case you should call me Mads," she replied. I'd like to think that we're friends now."

"Mads it is. I'm finding myself a bit low on friends these days so that would be nice." He grinned but realised that a little sadness had crept into his voice when she looked at him with pity in her eyes. That wasn't what he wanted at all so he grabbed her arm and propelled her towards the lift, asking quickly, "So what are the rest of your Christmas plans?"

He regretted that immediately when her face fell as the lift door closed. "This is it for my Christmas plans. Now it's just me going home to my empty flat," she said quietly.

In that moment he made a decision. She had cheered up his day and it was his turn to return the favour. It wasn't like him but that didn't mean he couldn't do it. "You should come home with me," he said quickly before he could change his mind. At the look of uncertainty on his face he clarified, "No funny business, I promise. We're just two friends spending Christmas together. Maybe watch a Christmas film, eat too much chocolate. What do you say? I'm alone too so you'd be doing me a favour, two strangers in a foreign land spending Christmas together."

Her face lit up as she replied, "Another Christmas tradition?"

"We'll make it one. Mads' and Lenny's Christmas movieathon. So is that a yes?"

"It's a yes."

So that is how Dr Lenny Lyons found himself sitting curled up on his sofa watching Christmas films with Nurse Madiha Durrani and surprisingly having the best Christmas he'd had for years. As he looked down and saw that she had nodded off against his shoulder he felt surprisingly content and was so happy that he'd given into that moment of weakness and agreed to join in with a few Christmas carols.


End file.
